Toothpick-machine.



No. 746,462. .PATIENTED DEC. s, 1903.

H. P. CHURCHILL & I. J. KEENE.

TOOTHPIGK MACHINE. 'APPLIQATION FILED APR. 2g, 190's.

' yo MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY P. CHURCHILL AND IRVING J. KEENE, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

TOOTH PICK-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,462, dated December 8, 1903. Application filed April 22, 1903. Serial No. 153,722. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY P. CHURCHILL and IRVING J. KEENE, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Portland, Cumberland county, State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toothpick-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a machine for cutting toothpicks and other like splints from veneer strips. These machines when used to cut toothpicks consist of a double-bladed knife placed with its edge upward, wit-h a pair of feed-rolls for feeding the veneer strip over the knives and a vertically-reciprocating cutting-block for pressing the veneer down onto the knife to form the splint. The machines also have some form of strip-lifter for lifting the body of the strip adjacent to the knife after it has been pressed down and the splint has been cut, so that the strip may be fed over the knife to cut the next splint. Hitherto the strip-lifter, which occupied the space from the rolls to the knife, was provided with no means to hold the veneer strip down, and when the end of the strip passed through the rolls and would feed no longer there was left a piece of veneer extending from the rolls to the knife, which was thrown out when the next strip came through the rolls, and was consequently wasted. It is chiefly to remedy this waste and to provide a simple and efiective device for the purpose of lifting the strip that our invention is directed; and it consists in journaling the strip-lifter to one of the rolls and pivotingits end'to the cutting-block, whereby the end is raised and lowered; and

it consists,.further, in providing guides or channels in the strip-lifter in which the edges of the veneer strip are confined, so that the end of each strip may be fed along by the strip that follows until it is entirely out up into splints.

We illustrate our invention by means of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a vertical section taken through a toothpick-machine with our lifting-strip applied. Fig. 2 is a plan of the strip. Fig. 3 is an end elevation, and Fig. 4 is a side view of the same.

A represents the bed of the machine. B and O are the upper and lower feed-rolls. g-is the knife. 01 is the cutting-block; e, the blockholder, and h the veneer strip. These parts are all common to machines of this class and need no further description.

The strip-lifter F is composed of a plate having two hubs f at its rear end, by which it is journaled to one of the feed-rolls, preferably the lower roll 0, leaving a space between the hubs for the strip to pass through. The forward end is moved up and down by the motion of the cutting-block holder e by means of a pin 6 in the bracket 6', which fits in horizontal slots f in the end of the striplifter. These slots are formed in the ends of raised guides f, having recesses next to the surface of the plate in which the edges of the veneer strip are confined as it .feeds to the knife. These recesses extend back to the feed-rolls, so that the new veneer strip as it passes through the rolls will push the remnants of the 01d strip along and cause it to be entirely out. It will thus be seen that by the use of our device the Waste from the end portion of each strip is saved and a simple and smoothly-acting strip-lifter is produced.

We claim- In a machine for cutting toothpicks or other splints from veneer strips, the combination of a cutting-knife over which the veneer strip is fed, rolls for feeding said strip to the knife, a vertically-reciprocating cutting-block for pressing said strip down onto the knife and a lifting-strip journaled at one end on one of said feed-rolls and positively connected by the other end to the cutting-block and having the same motion for pressing said strip down onto the knife, said lifting-strip having lateral guides for holding down the edges of the veneer strip.

Signed at Portland, Maine, this 11th day of April, 1903.

HENRY P. CHURCHILL. IRVING J. KEENE.

Witnesses:

S. W. BATEs, L. M. GODFREY.- 

